Wagering games involving cards, such as blackjack and the numerous variants of poker, have long been offered at casinos and similar establishments. In some instances, such games involve physical cards and chips and actions by dealers and other live participants. In other instances, much of the action is simulated by a computer such that dealing, wagering, and payouts are handled electronically and participants may be located distant from one another.
One consistent feature in many of these card-wagering games is that the cards, which each player (and possibly the dealer) is dealt, come from a common set of cards. This set of cards can be a single deck or can be multiple decks that are typically arranged in a shoe or similar apparatus. For example, when playing blackjack, when a player is dealt a particular card, then that card is no longer in the pool of cards available to be dealt to the other players and/or the dealer.
There are undesirable consequences that stem from this common feature of many card-wagering games. First, some jurisdictions have or are considering regulations prohibiting card-wagering games that operate as just described. For example, gaming regulators in New Jersey and Pennsylvania prohibit games whose outcomes for one player has an impact on another player. Thus, traditional blackjack is prohibited under such regulations.
Second, the congenial and friendly atmosphere of a game can be adversely impacted by the actions of various players in such card games. In standard blackjack it is not uncommon for a player to take a hit card when an ideal strategy would dictate that the player should instead “stand.” When the next player takes a “hit” and receives a card that does not favorably advance his hand, and wishes he instead received the previous player's hit card, he may blame the first player, thereby undermining the atmosphere at the table.
Thus, there remains the unmet need for a card-wagering game that limits the impact of one player's outcomes on those of the other players.